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Mount Everest Climbers And Sherpas In 'Brawl'

Officials in Nepal are investigating reports of a fight on Mount Everest between three European mountaineers, including a Briton, and a group of Sherpa mountain guides.

The Nepalese Mountaineering Department said the three climbers - from Italy, Switzerland and Britain - were involved in arguments with some Sherpa guides on Sunday, and officials based at the Everest base camp are looking into what happened.

Police, the Ministry of Tourism and the Sherpa Association are also investigating the alleged brawl.

In conflicting reports, both sides have accused each other of starting the fight. The climbers claim they were victims of an unprovoked attack, while the guides say they retaliated after an incident in which they were threatened.

Two of the climbers reportedly suffered minor injuries while it is claimed the third received a deep cut to his face. All three claim to have extensive climbing experience.

One of the men is Swiss national Ueli Steck, who has since descended the mountain and is currently waiting for a flight back to Kathmandu.

The other two climbers are Italian Simone Moro - who has returned to the base camp but may still attempt the 29,029ft (8,848m) climb - and British national Jonathan Griffith.

The fight is reported to have taken place on the Lhotse Face between Camp Two which lies at an altitude of 24,750ft (7,500m) and Camp Three at 27,390ft (8,300m).

Problems started when the three men were asked by a team of high-altitude Sherpas not to touch their ropes.

Sherpa guides, hired by the hundreds of Western climbers attempting to climb the world's highest mountain, are the first ones to fix the ropes on the routes so their clients can climb to the peak.

Mr Griffith said that as they side-stepped the ropes, one of the Sherpas began shouting and erratically banging the ice with his axe.

In a statement released to Sky News, Mr Griffith said: "Still shouting down at the climbers, (the Sherpa) fixed his rope and abseiled down.

"As Ueli was soloing and therefore not attached to a rope it was natural that he should hold his hands up to take the impact of the force arriving on him from the lead climber abseiling right on to him.

"This prompted the lead climber to accuse Ueli Steck of 'touching him'. In between hitting the ice with all his force and screaming at Ueli 'why you touch me' he said that they had kicked ice down on them and injured a Sherpa.

"By the time we had descended back to Camp Two some 100 Sherpas had grouped together and attacked us. They became instantly aggressive and not only punched and kicked us but threw many rocks as well."

Mr Griffith went on to describe how a small group of Westerners saved them from "the out of control mob", who acted as a buffer between the two groups.

"We owe our lives to these brave and selfless people," he added.

He said he and his fellow climbers, who were not part of any commercial expedition, did not believe that their actions were the reasons behind "such a mass attack".

But he said the reaction was "from a far more deep rooted and long term problem, which is the way that Nepalis feel treated by Westerners on the mountain and this was a uprising against that".

He added that "there is no reason to instigate vigilante rule and to try and kill three visiting climbers".

Sitaram Karki, the chief district officer in Solukhumbu, said police were investigating but that the details were unclear.

"There are communication issues high on the mountain, but we have received reports of a fight and deployed our team to investigate," he said.

More than 3,000 people have climbed Everest, which straddles Nepal and China, since it was first conquered by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

Every year hundreds more set out in April to attempt the climb.